Immigrants all around America are in panic as President Trump’s new order shocks the nation. Trump’s order states that H1B visas all around the United States are now under pressure, as employers are forced to pay $100,000 to keep their foreign workers in America.
Well, what is a H1B visa? An H1B visa is a visa given to workers to work in the United States. The fee for the companies to give one to their workers used to be around $2,000-3,000. Now Trump is forcing the fee for these visas to be $100,000, as previously stated. This complicates a lot of things, especially to immigrants coming to America. As a daughter to immigrants, this impacts a lot of people in my life, but thankfully not my parents as they are citizens.
Many people have created lives here. They are trying their hardest to chase the “American Dream” and a lot of those dreams are crushed, because of Trump’s order. To talk about this, I went to my dad for more information. Kalyan Manda is a contractor who is working for Spectrum. He says that the order does not affect him personally, but seems the impact around him.
“I did a PhD, so I got a green card immediately, which led me to become a citizen pretty quickly,” Manda said. A green card is a card that allows you to stay and work in the United States permanently. He says that the order affects a lot of his friends. “A lot of people in my community are affected by this, and if they all have to move, a lot of burden falls on me. I have to make sure their homes and cars are sold, if they have to move.”
When asked whether or not he likes this order, Mada responded with a mixed reply.
“I think it is harsh but also kind of necessary. So many people are moving here in the hopes of having a good life and settling down with a job,” Manda said.
This statement seems to sum up what most immigrants-turn-citizens think. To conclude, I asked him if his company would be under pressure without a lot of employees. “I think so, because most of our company gives out H1B visas for a lot of my fellow employees,” he says with concern.
People have properties, friendships as they build lives here. Trump is seizing people’s right to the pursuit of happiness with this order. Companies are going to lay off many people, and without a visa they have to go to their home country. Immigrants worked hard to get here, and all of this can be gone in a matter of whenever Trump sees fit.
Many people wanted to visit their families before the announcement by leaving the country, and some of these people got the announcement on a plane, thus leading to many people de-boarding in mass panic. Many of these scenes can be observed on many streaming platforms, like Instagram and Youtube. In reality, it’s more than just the number of people affected, it’s also major companies that hire many immigrants. Many retailing industries, service based providers, (like tech companies) hire immigrants. Much of the economy is affected, 19% of the United States workforce is comprised of immigrants.
If so much of our own economy is composed of immigrants, why should we get rid of the majority that makes our country so diverse? Another side of this whole situation could be the side of people whose jobs are being taken. If people think this way, then does getting rid of the source of immigrant’s income make the people who are from America happier? People come here with the intention of making money, they don’t come here with the harmful intentions of trying to take people’s chances of getting a job. Yes, I agree that at some point some of the immigration could be reduced, but taking away the chance to come back at all is very detrimental. America’s diversity is gone if the visa is gone.
